Landscaping in Portland, Maine, is a small peninsula yard under nor'easter wind, salt, and water that has nowhere to spread out. Munjoy Hill and the Eastern Prom take spray and a fetch off Casco Bay that burns shrubs and scours walks. West End gardens are walled, shaded, and aimed at old foundations. Back Cove opens another wind. A North Deering lot may have more soil and less salt, and it should not be described as the prom. There is often no lawn deep enough to hide a drainage mistake.
Downspouts that end at clapboard keep the sill wet for rot and carpenter ants after every coastal storm. Patios pitched at the house put the blow into the basement. Brick walks heave, then ice when the soaked ground freezes the same night. Snow and storm debris have nowhere to go, so the pile sits on the bulkhead or the only path. Street trees heave steps and fill gutters that then overflow in the next sideways rain. That overflow is a building problem.
Salt-tolerant planting is the only planting that lasts on an open bay street. A shrub from a milder, wetter city will brown and stay brown. Shade beside a tall West End wall is deep, and the soil may be fill over rubble. Raised beds need an overflow that misses the foundation. Dogs and a small dirt yard become mud as soon as the freeze lifts. Ledge shows up as soon as the fill gets thin. Do not dig blind on a peninsula lot.
A low corner that floods when the neighborhood floods is not a flower bed, especially toward the water and Back Cove. Say so. Grade on the hill sends grit into window wells. The job is usually water, salt, or a surface, not a catalog of blooms. Storm cleanup and a rebuilt pitch are different requests. Pick the one that is wetting the house. The ocean is the wind and the spray, not a view to landscape around.
Describe the neighborhood and the size of the space. Mention leaders, salt, and where the water sits after a nor'easter. Have one priority. Call the number on this page.